Forks, calipers, and Ray
I read with interest the comment from Les Dale in the March issue of CBG regarding the frontend disc configuration on your ‘Com and Go’. As he says, it was a common mod at the time. Having owned and ridden three Triumph Slippery Sam ‘reps’ over the years, all were true to the original, with the one front and one rear configuration of calipers.
Could it have been so; because at the time there was only one pattern fork leg available that accommodated a caliper? So, Les Williams had no other option at the time to achieve a twin-disc set-up, hence one front/one back. The spindle bottom fork cap was reversible, so the mudguard stay still worked.
Whatever the reason, it worked well as many great riders proved, including my personal ‘hero’, Ray Pickrell, who I believe more than any other racer put Slippery Sam in the limelight after ‘Sam’s’ first TT win. In conclusion, I would say that Ray deserved much more credit for his racing prowess than was ever afforded him.
Apart from Ray’s endurance races and his record of short circuit successes while riding the Dunstall Nortons and Aermacchi and TransAtlantic series wins, he was equal to many others who became household names.
Final piece of trivia for any others who remember those days. Why did Ray have ‘Winkle’ on the side of his Aermacchi? It was Paul Dunstall’s term of affection for his wife (well, that’s what Ray once told me).
Hope you find my memories of interest and worthy of sharing.
You packed a lot in there, Dick! Thank you for your confirmation about the forks from the time; I can’t wait to start work on the bike. And yes, Ray Pickrell never received the fame he deserved from his racing, so I found a good photo of him – Matt